Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Minnesota for bringing up the amendment and for the way he has participated in our debate and worked for us to make it possible to get a result. I am going to ask for a ``no'' vote on this amendment. There is no doubt that bullying or harassment of children based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity is a terrible problem and has become in some parts of our country even accurately described as an epidemic. But the question is, Is this an argument that is best addressed to the local school board or to the State board of education or to a national school board in Washington, DC? We have 50 million children in 100,000 public schools and 3.5 million teachers. No more set of issues is more difficult to deal with on an individualized basis in a rural area in Alaska or the mountains of Tennessee or the middle of Harlem than a case of harassment or bullying. Teachers, principals, and school advisors deal with those every day. We do not know more about that than they do. The U.S. Department of Education cannot make regulations for that many different kinds of instances. This substitutes the judgment of the people closest to the children, who cherish them--substitutes the judgment of Washington bureaucrats for them. It allows the Federal Government to regulate and dictate local school gender identity policies, such as those related to restrooms, locker rooms, and dress codes. It will lead to costly lawsuits.…”